Starting as Soldiers on a Battlefield
by FrankandJoe3
Summary: The world will always need saving, but sometimes the heroes need something, too. Birdflash


**Did we need Birdflash? Probably not. Am I going to write it anyway? Of course I am.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. **

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><p>No one could've imagined six hours earlier that the vacant lot behind the abandoned shopping mall on the outskirts of Dover could amount to a battlefield, but now, looking over the scattered wreckage of concrete and the screams melded in with the thundering of artillery, there was little else it could be. It was six against a mass that didn't have a beginning or ending in sight, a match up that should've guaranteed certain death, but the six on the opposing side were fighting down to the teeth and nail with no intention of surrendering.<p>

Amidst the clamor, the com links the six were connected to all gave a low feedback, easily drowned out by the fire of muzzle nearest the fighter's ear.

"We can't keep pretending these kids are soldiers," a woman's voice said solemnly, her location somewhere much farther off.

One of the six lifted into the air, cape billowing brutally in the wind, sending a sea of the gunmen crashing off into unconsciousness with their guns cracking against their foreheads as they hit the ground again. Another of the six was ripping up the earth and throwing it at the enemy, the bullets deflecting off his chest as though they were little more than a beam of light. One was darting through the gunmen in a flash of color, halting after running straight up the mall's exterior into a window where all of the guns that had been collected were dropped.

"No one ever called them that," a deeper voice responded, no sympathy in the tone.

A thick smoke wound its way through a large congregation and an electronic giggle ran its way through the cloud before it was dissipated in a smaller scale explosion, ropes like wires wrapped tightly around the unfortunate victims. Their guns dropped and a figure made to scatter them before taking off to avoid the the spray of bullets. There had been a few close scrapes, but no one had quit yet.

Whips made of what seemed like water rose up from behind a concrete sheltering and flicked out, striking several men and dropping them quickly. It cut the air in a quick swipe and more dropped soon after. Farther off along the lot, a little dot of black would make itself through the air before erupting in an explosion or an expulsion of smoke very similar to the one before it, only its recipients dropped into unconsciousness moments after inhalation.

"What else could they be?"

There was a silence over the line, crackling and static from the six's end, but then there was a laugh that was younger than either of the speakers could own up to.

"We'll settle for 'heroes', if you don't mind," a voice just as young said with a smile that could be heard, and then it was all over.

The outnumbering was balanced and then conquered. The conscious and unconscious were handcuffed and escorted off to where they would be questioned and interrogated, scattered among the soon on scene nearby police agencies, a handful escorted back with the Justice League for specific interrogation. The six were left to do a final sweep of the area with a settled agreement to head back to Mt. Justice afterwards.

Wally was running circles in a particular kind of glee that he could credit to the adrenaline running his body six times faster than it needed to and the hunger driving itself at his stomach, vibrating in his little cycles with a laugh on his lips.

"Dude, did you see us out there?!" he cackled when Dick made his way over, a crooked grin on the latter's face.

The ebony brushed back his hair and rolled his eyes beneath his domino mask, but he was just as excited as his friend, if not completely exhausted.

"I was like-," he made a whirring sound, "and they were like," it was followed by a bad machine gun imitation and pitiful feminine screams, "and then you were like," explosion sounds came after with a spot on recreation of the Boy Wonder's famed giggle, "and we just," the rest of his words were cut back in a laugh that came from the bottom of his chest.

The redhead spun around on his toes, head tipped back in a grin, and then he was there in front of Dick with a brightness in his eyes that had very little comparison on this earth. With little other warning, he carded his fingers through the back of his friend's hair, and then he kissed him. The younger could only manage a little gasp before Wally pulled back and two sets of wide eyes met each other in a moment that lasted too long.

Dick's mouth lay parted slightly, a dark blush about matching his ears with his vest. For once, he didn't have a clever retort. He didn't have a single thought going through his head now, besides a small, "_Oh_." Wally slowly pulled his hands back towards him, fingers surprisingly stilled now. His face was a clean shade of red, brows tightening for a flicker before he averted his eyes and took a small step backwards, a small, "_Oh_" playing through his head in a different tone.

There was little other conversation before they were making their way back to the bioship to join the others. Wally took off in a flash and that was sign enough for both of them to hold their tongue on the matter. When they got back to the cave, it was like it hadn't happened in the first place, and there was a silent agreement to treat it like that.

They still trained together and hung out in civvies, and stayed up half the night texting the other even with the threat of big tests and bigger missions waiting at the horizon.

The only sign that it had happened at all was the dreams Dick would have where he would feel the press of Wally's lips to his, and then wake up with a hand by his mouth and a quickly dying blossom of hope in his chest. He wouldn't ever talk about it, even when he wanted to do nothing else. It was a spur of the moment thing, he had convinced himself. Wally always had to stay six steps ahead of his brain to keep from getting killed. He must've been thinking about heroes and getting the girl- and he had happened to be the closest recipient.

It hurt to think that sometimes, but he told it to himself until he could believe it.

There were many missions after that. Not all of them were big, per se, but they were still enough to get excited about at the victory. After one, a smaller scale rescue that had a lot of scared kids going back home to their parents, Wally caught up with Dick wearing a softer kind of grin. He knew his best friend inside and out, and he knew how missions like this affected him. He put a hand to his shoulder softly and held him like that, a tenderness in his eyes.

"We did good today, buddy. Those kids..."

"Are getting what every kid deserves to have," Dick finished, an almost nostalgic smile on his face.

Wally stepped a little closer, some concern written delicately beneath his expression.

"I'm fine, KF. You'd only have to worry if they had died out here tonight. I'm glad they're going home," the ebony sighed, bringing his smile up a little.

The two of them stood in a silence, Wally's hand on Dick's arm, and they watched each other with held breath until they seemed to realize what they were doing.

"Right," Wally stuttered weakly and stepped back, murmuring an apology with a tint in his ears. "Let's catch up with the others."

Dick swallowed down his disappoint and they went on their way, still not talking about it.

It went on like this for a long time, neither bringing up the only thing on their minds, moments that could be so much more becoming awkward as they both restrained themselves. Their friendship was unswayed by it, but it made for a lot less sleep at night which came to be a problem when the team was presented with missions finding themselves back-to-back. Both were exhausted, inside and out, but it didn't seem any different from everyone else there. The world never slept, so it seemed like they couldn't either.

A mission a little higher on the scale ended with them as victors, but gave Dick a particularly deep gash along his cheek that didn't look any level of comfortable. His wasn't the only injury by any means, but it was certainly the most noticeable. He shooed off the others when they offered to help though, insisting that it wasn't a big deal.

"We've all gotten worse than this on a day off," he gave a little smile, and it seemed to ease them all for the most part.

While they dealt with the hostages and perpetrators, he made his way to the back and used the reflection on the metal of the machines to get a look at the cut. It looked worse than it felt, that much was obvious, but he dabbed off the blood the best he could, going through his belt for a temporary bandage until Bruce could have a look at it. He was just pulling out the gauze when he heard the footsteps. A genuine smile tugged itself over his lips as he recognized their source easily.

"Wally, I'm fine," he insisted, stopping his search all the same. "It just looks bad. Besides, it'll heal pretty."

The redhead didn't share the same sentiment. There was a genuine fear in his eyes as he saw the cut, and guilt riddled itself deep inside the jade eyes.

"It's not your fault," Dick said quietly, eyes not leaving the other's as he got closer.

Wally took the gauze from the ebony's fingers with both hands, the hand not holding it remaining around the other's fingers for a breath longer before he pulled it back too. With a bit of help, the redhead cleaned the cut and bandaged it to a point of satisfactory for them both. His hand lingered on the other's cheek even after the bandage was smoothed flat. The cheeks he held heated quickly under his touch and his own quickly followed, but they were alone here and nothing would've stopped Wally as he curled his fingers around the back of the other's head and kissed him.

This kiss was slower and so much softer, down to the way his fingers curled snugly in the dark locks they were holding. Dick's lips turned up in a smile against the softer pair and his eyes shut beneath the mask, one hand seeking out one of Wally's while his other rose and tucked fingers beneath the cowl enough to have a firm hold on something. Wally dropped the hand Dick grabbed at and let their fingers interlace, a smile turning up his own lips.

They stood together longer than either could count, finally getting the second kiss they both had thought about, and the third, and the fourth, and however many they managed to trade off before one of them had the mind to pull back before the team worried. Their hands stayed where they were, and they only separated so far that their foreheads still touched.

"Don't do that to me again," Wally muttered with a breathy laugh, voice a lot lower than either had anticipated, bringing them both to laugh again. "I'm not going to lose you."

Dick's heart hammered in his throat and he swallowed it down with a little nod, searching the other's eyes with a hope he wasn't sure quite fit in his chest.

"I'm not going anywhere," he promised.

When the door made a sound, they both separated and made their way out to join the others, unconsciously adjusting that which would've been messed up by the kiss.

They didn't speak of this one either. Wally wouldn't acknowledge that it happened and Dick didn't have the courage to bring it up.

Every time Dick got hurt on a mission though, he thought about it. Whenever he was on a mission, he thought about it. He just thought about it. It plagued his thoughts and he couldn't rid himself of it. All he knew was that it had felt good. He wasn't sure about the feelings tethered in with it, what this made them, but he knew that he wanted more of it- and he knew it was his turn.

His chance came a lot sooner than he had anticipated.

The two of them had made it a regular occasion to catch some pizza together after school, so they could still see each other when they didn't have simulations to run or missions to go out on. They had just been leaving when they were called in to Mt. Justice for a briefing.

Wally joked that it was actually an intervention for his eating problem and they made their way down the back roads to catch the ZETA not too far off. It wasn't very far from the misplaced door on the side of the otherwise abandoned building that Dick took his chance.

They were walking side-by-side, so he turned, caught Wally's shirt in his fist and pulled him down to match the height he didn't quite have. It was almost clumsy at first, like their first kiss had been, but Wally caught on quickly and before long, there were desperate fingers pulling the Boy Wonder's hair tightly. Dick's hands released the other's shirt and he brought his arms up around his neck instead, anchoring him closer. He managed to get his fingers tucked into the red locks and he gave himself over in every way he could think to, brain returning to the quiet little, "_Oh_" from before, with a very different tone.

Wally brought a hand down to the small of his back and knotted it there tightly, bringing them that much closer. This kiss was a little faster, a little more desperate, but it was just as soft as the others had been. It was eventually broken when they both couldn't stop grinning. They accepted defeat and slowly untangled from each other, hair in a disarray and clothes crumpled in a show that caught them both off-guard.

"W... what was that for?" Wally fought for his voice, trembling fingers coming up to rub his neck carefully.

Dick bit at his lip, averting his eyes. His fingertips touched to the inside of his elbow.

"I don't know," he admitted hastily, looking back up and slowing down. "I don't... It feels good. Y... _You... _feel good. This..."

He looked back at his arm and wrapped his fingers delicately around the bend, pretending to be interested in whether or not he could touch his fingers.

"Dick," Wally breathed.

Dick kept his eyes down, biting his lip a little harder. His cheeks burned worse at this than they had at the kiss itself and he found himself shaking a little.

"I don't want this to be a... heat of the moment thing. I like this. I want this. I want... I want it to be a regular thing... that I can do... when... whenever I want. I want to-."

Whatever he wanted was cut off in the next second, swallowed by the lips touching back over his. It was chaste, but it made its point.

"Yeah," Wally said quietly, drawing the blue eyes up towards him in a dazed fashion.

"Yeah...?" the ebony repeated.

Wally looked off towards the wall with a shy grin, face burning darkly, but he nodded.

"You can... do that... whenever you want," he clarified, looking back long enough to catch Dick's hand. "If you want. I want. You, I mean. I want... that... I..."

They both looked at each other and found themselves laughing, a truly happy laugh that spilled out and just couldn't be stopped.

"Yeah," Dick said again and they started for the ZETA entrance.

The six would settle for 'heroes' any day, but the two entering the Cave to join the others now were perfectly fine with just being 'happy'.

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><p><strong>-F.J. III<strong>


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